Chapter 25 Ronan
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ronan
With my ax in one hand and a large dagger in the other, I stand ready, waiting for their attack.
My lip curls and I bare my teeth at the man standing directly in front of me, in the center of the line. I should have guessed the assholes who we ran into before we’d even signed up for the Mating Hunt would be the ones to orchestrate this.
I should have killed them a week ago, then we wouldn’t be in this mess now. They had dared to call us Redmere scum, as if they weren’t the ones who were disgusting excuses for men.
Now they point their pathetic excuses for weapons at us, while the fire moves closer to our backs. My eyes move along the line, waiting for one of them to make the first move as I consider our options.
Instinct tells me to keep her behind us, as far from their greedy hands as possible. But I need to be aware of how close the fire is getting.
I take a quick glance over my shoulder and see her standing in a fighting stance, her dagger at the ready, and pride swells in my chest. My mate is no longer hiding in a tree, shaking with fear.
With us, she feels protected, safe, and strong, unwilling to go down without a fight of her own. I feel truly honored to be her mate, and I will prove my worth by fighting for her and her freedom.
Lifting my ax, I yell, “For Willow!”
“For our mate!” Bo and Hawk yell in unison, raising their own weapons, then the three of us move forward as one.
I see the males' eyes widen in a moment of surprise, some of them taking a nervous step back before they raise their weapons. I head straight for the man in the middle, the one who called us cannibals. He manages to block my swing but doesn’t expect the follow-up from the dagger in my left hand, swiping across his chest.
He stumbles back, but the wound isn’t deep. Raising my foot, I kick him in the center of the chest, determined to keep him as far from my mate as possible. I block the swing of a sword from a man to my left, spinning to cut through his neck with my ax, killing him instantly.
I don’t wait for him to drop, turning back to block another attack from my first target. This time, as I push his sword to the side, I spin closer and use my dagger to sink deep into his side.
When he gasps and stumbles away, I finish the job with my ax.
A drop of rain hits my head, but I ignore it as I move to the next man beside me. A spear suddenly comes through his chest, from behind, and I nod at Hawk and spin away, knowing he’s already got this one taken care of.
More drops of rain start to fall from the sky, quickly turning into a downpour.
The next few minutes are a mess of blood and mud as we take down the men who threaten to take our mate from us.
When I down the next man, I turn, looking for anyone left alive, just as the last man standing runs between Bo and me, straight for Willow.
Even through the rain, I see her eyes widen with fear from where she’s standing twenty feet back, our attack having brought us further away from her. But with the wall of fire moving closer, she doesn’t retreat, instead she raises her dagger and points it at the man running toward her.
Unwilling to let him get his hands on her, I lift my ax over my shoulder and throw it end over end until it lands squarely in the man’s lower back, one second before Hawk’s spear pierces his shoulder, followed by one of Bo’s swords, which lands right beside my ax.
Willow jumps in surprise when he comes crashing to the ground at her feet. I run to her and scoop her up as the other two remove our weapons from the dead man’s back.
“Are you okay?” I ask, my free hand running over her face. She licks her lips and swallows, nodding. I think she’s just a little shocked, but seems uninjured.
I set her on her feet and look around, making sure that there’s nobody left, then look at the fire, which has been reduced to only smoke, thanks to the rain. When I’m finally convinced that all the threats are gone, for the moment, I turn back to Willow.
Rain drips down her face as her wide eyes take in the scene before us. Two dozen men lay dead on the ground, several decapitated, thanks to my ax, and all of them covered in their own blood. It’s enough to scare anyone.
Even though the damage is done, I quickly turn her away, my body shielding the sight from view.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” I say as she finally looks up at me. Her searching eyes scan my face, then she reaches up and starts wiping her fingers across my skin. “What are you doing?”
“You’re covered in specs of blood,” she tells me as the downpour starts to lessen.
“Don’t touch it,” I tell her. “I don’t want it on your hands.”
“I want to,” she insists. I want to argue, but she doesn’t look repulsed or scared or even put off. No, her hazel eyes are looking at me with care, with love.
Unable to resist, I hoist her up so my lips can reach hers. Her surprise quickly turns to heat as she wraps a hand around the back of my neck. The rain stops completely, until all I hear is the sound of water dripping from the trees, and my heart, hammering in my chest.
Not wanting to put my guard down completely, I pull back before placing one last kiss to her forehead, then I set her on her feet. “You’re okay?” I ask her as I grip her shoulders and inspect her body.
She nods. “Nobody laid a finger on me, thanks to you three.” She glances at Hawk and Bo as she bites her lip. I wish I knew what she was thinking right now.
“Here, Ronan,” Hawk says, passing me my ax. “You probably want to clean this.” I grab a few large leaves and start to wipe the blade as Bo and Hawk take turns hugging our mate.
My gaze keeps flitting around the forest, then back to her, knowing that there could still be more men out here. Although the signal has indicated the game can end now, it doesn’t actually end until we get her over that finish line, in our possession.
“What’s our plan?” Bo asks as he and Hawk step up to my side and we stare at the bodies.
“Leave them. We can inform the people running this awful Hunt where to find them, and they can decide what to do with all the bodies.”
“We’ll have to tell them where all the other men we killed are too,” Hawk says as he stares around at the bodies.
Glancing at Willow, I can see her moving into the now scorched path the fire created. Thanks to the rain, there is nothing left of the flames, but it has taken out a big chunk of forest before it was stopped.
She stops and turns to look at us, giving me a small smile when she sees me watching her, one I try to return. Her eyes move to all the dead bodies then back to us. My hands clench into fists. I hate her seeing all this violence, especially from us.
Before today, we’ve been able to shield her from it.
Although we are trained warriors, there aren’t many human threats on Redmere, only the occasional fight with the neighboring island, Juniper Isle, so once we return home, she’ll probably never have to see such brutality again.
I just hope it doesn’t change the way she sees us.
Her eyes move down my body before she does the same to Hawk and Bo. I wish I knew what she was thinking right now, but a part of me is afraid to ask. Thankfully, my fellow clansman does not have the same issue.
Bo slowly moves toward her and I see her swallow and lick her lips. Is she scared? Or is this something else?
“I can see you’re thinking really hard about something,” Bo says as he reaches out and gently wraps his fingers around the back of her neck. “Care to share with us?”
She licks her lips again as she stares up at him and shuffles her weight back and forth between her feet. I tilt my head in confusion as I try to figure out what’s going on with her. Is she nervous?
“I…” She starts, but trails off as her hands move from where they were fidgeting with her dress to press against Bo’s chest. “Thank you,” she finally blurts out.
“For protecting me. I thought I’d be terrified of all that blood and violence, but my only fear was of one of you getting hurt, or worse. ”
Bo grins down at her. “It’ll take more than a few dozen men to harm us.”
“I can see that,” she says as her eyes trail down his body.
Wait… Is she… aroused?
Bo, seeing the same thing I do, tilts her head up and kisses her. He doesn’t press hard, making her work for it as she eventually pushes up onto her toes and throws her arms around his neck. He takes that as a sign to kiss her harder, his own arm banding around her back as he devours her.
When he deepens the kiss, a long, needy moan escapes her as she tries to get even closer to him.
I’m mesmerized by the sight of her arousal from such a brutal display of violence. But perhaps the fact that it was us, her mates, fighting for her honor, and her freedom, that has her in this current state.
Bo finally pulls back, and they both suck in a few deep lungfuls of air.
He grins down at her as he asks, “You like seeing us fight for you, little mate?”
She nods and bites her lip as she stares up into his eyes.
Movement by her foot catches my attention, and I step forward, unsure what it is. The ground around her is scorched black from the fire, but spreading out from under her feet is something green.
My brow furrows as I watch as blades of grass start to appear.
“What on earth?” I whisper as the others turn to see where I’m looking. Bo pulls Willow away, and where her feet had been is now grass, in a bright shade of green. It starts to slowly spread out until there is a two foot circle of grass where she’d just been standing.
We all just stare at it in silence. Did the magic we sought have nothing to do with the flint, but the fire itself? Is there something about fire in this land that is… magical?
How would we be able to take that back to Redmere?
“I don’t understand,” Willow says, mirroring my thoughts. “I thought it was the flint rock that had the magic?”
She glances up at Bo and asks, “Can you recite the prophecy again?”